Who has been the Cubs biggest disappointment this season? |
If you told me the Cubs’ starting pitching staff leads baseball with four pitchers with a sub 3.20 ERA, Ian Happ is better than his 2022 All-Star self, Michael Busch has been a top-4 first basemen in the NL and that Shota Imanaga is an NL All-Star in his rookie season — I would assume the Cubs were in first place in the NL Central.
As we know, that has not been the case. The Cubs are 44-49 and last place in the NL Central. Ten games separate the first-place Brewers and the last-place Cubs. So what has gone wrong? The obvious answer is injuries — as the Cubs have consistently been one of the league’s most banged-up teams all season. From Justin Steele’s opening day injury to Cody Bellinger breaking ribs trying to make a catch at Wrigley the Cubs have had constant IL stints. 13 of the Cubs’ opening day 26 men have spent time on the injured list as well as players who began the season on the IL or have been called up and then hit the IL — so the Cubs have been battling an injury bug all season long. Another clear-cut reason is that the Cubs can’t seem to hold leads. They have blown 18 saves this season,n and they have come from a variety of arms. Last year’s circle of trust of Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr., and Adbert Alzolay have all battled injuries. Plus, injuries to starters like Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Wicks have forced pitchers like Javier Assad, Hayden Wesneski and Drew Smyly into hybrid starter/long relief roles. But it still raises the question, who has been the Cubs' biggest disappointment this season? I’ll start with this — the Cubs catchers have been abysmal this season. We all know it. From Yan Gomes' regression and release to Miguel Amaya’s inability to perform — the Cubs have awful ranks on the offensive and defensive side of the position. However, since neither one of those players was counted on that heavily entering the season anyway, it’s hard to call either of them the most disappointing. Dansby Swanson: The Cubs inked Swanson to a seven-year, $177 million contract ahead of the 2023 season. Swanson was named to the All-Star game in 202, and finished the season with 22 homers, 80 RBI and earned his second consecutive gold glove at shortstop. However, Swanson’s encore to 2023 has been rough. In 81 games this season,n Swanson is hitting just .201 with eight home runs and just 28 runs batted in. For a player making over 25 million dollars per year, Swanson has not held up his end of the bargain. His struggles at the plate have gotten so bad in 2024 that many fans have begun to compare his contract to that of Jason Heyward. Christopher Morel: The Cubs entered last offseason with a noticeable hole at third base and first base once Jeimer Candelario signed with the Reds in free agency. Instead of addressing third base outside of the organization, the Cubs pegged Christopher Morel to be the Cubs starting third baseman in 2024. Morel hit .247 in 2023 with 26 home runs and 70 RBI — while shuffling around the diamond in the infield and outfield and DH. So naturally, once we could expect with regular playing time, we see a jump in Morel’s production. Craig Counsell agreed with that line of thinking because Morel had been penciled in as the cleanup hitter in most lineups this season. However, that has not been the case. Morel has struggled at third base this season, with nine errors on the season. Plus, his offense has not been anywhere near good enough to keep a defender that bad on the field. Morel does have a respectable 16 home runs and 47 RBI, but with a .199 batting average and an OPS of .672, it is safe to say Morel has been a dud in 2024. Nico Hoerner: Once revered as a building block for the Cubs’ future, Nico Hoerner has been the subject of trade rumors as of late. He has battled some injuries but is worse in every category this season than he was in his breakout 2023 campaign. His contact, his on base and his slug are all down considerably this season. Hoerner was expected by many to become the Cubs leadoff man of the future and hit near .300 and steal 30+ bases — and we have only seen glimpses of that player in 2024. Cody Bellinger: 2023’s comeback player of the year was a big reason why the Cubs sniffed the playoffs last season. After playing underwhelming baseball as a team, Cody Bellinger put the Cubs on his back in July and August and fueled the Cubs into playoff contention. As a result, Bellinger was labeled as the Cubs’ top priority of the offseason — and eventually was signed to a 3-year, $80 million contract with opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. But in 2024, Bellinger has not been worth it. A strong April and May had Bellinger near the top of the Cubs’ team leaders. However, Bellinger is being relied on to produce runs in the three-hole and has just one home run since May 31st. His batting average has hovered near a respectable .270 for most of the season but is leaps and bounds worse than the .307 average he posted in 2023. Mix that with a total lack of power from Bellinger and you have a candidate for an extreme disappointment in 2024. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Kyle Hendricks (7.53 ERA in 63.1 innings after a 3.74 ERA last season) Adbert Alzolay (4.67 ERA, 4 saves after 2.67 ERA, 22 saves in 2023) Craig Counsell (Cubs in last place with him, Brewers in first place without him) What say you?
